Curragh Camp - The Wrens of The Curragh

The Wrens of The Curragh

The Camp, like many military garrisons in Ireland at the time, had a particular problem with prostitution and was mentioned in the Contagious Disease Acts, which allowed the authorities to stop and arrest women if they suspected them of being prostitutes.

In the furze covered areas surrounding the camp women, mainly prostitutes, set up camp in what were known as 'nests'. These women became known as the wrens. Their story gained prominence in a series of articles in the Pall Mall Gazette by the English journalist James Greenwood in 1867. His book The Seven Curses of London also contains a chapter on the Wrens.

The problem of sexually transmitted diseases due to the prevalence of prostitution and men willing to partake in their services can be seen by the numbers reporting with gonorrhea in the military hospital in the 1911 Census.